NO HAPPY ENDINGS A FANTASY STORY

“I, Aurora, bear witness to a darkness that has consumed my life. It began after the tragic passing of my fiancé, Sean Willows whose charisma and respect were the pillars of our tight-knit community of content farmers.

Our village masquerading as a town was never the same after his demise. Sean’s life was what you would describe as a future brutally cut short. His family, fearful of being ostracized or deemed cursed concealed the truth from us all – the sinister force that had been claiming lives in Koldra.

Unbeknownst to me, I was the catalyst for Sean’s downfall. My beauty, a rare gem had unwittingly drawn an entity which coveted me with an unholy passion.

Like the ancient legend of the castle princess, it yearned for me to surrender, to let it in. This malevolent presence haunted my every step, its fear of daylight forcing it to lurk in the shadows. I would catch glimpses of a man, sometimes a light-skinned boy tailing me to the market, the treehouse even where I shared secrets with friends and down to the very home where it had claimed my beloved Sean’s life – a house it seemed to despise as much as it desired me.”

**********

“Are you certain it followed you here?” Mr. Willow Baker, Sean’s father asked with skepticism.

I hesitated attempting to dodge the question but instead I gestured toward the window.

The tall shadowy figure immediately darted back into the underbrush leaving behind an unsettling feeling.

Mr. Baker’s countenance turned ashen as he sank quietly into his seat. Such a silence commanded the other town elders to read the truth in his expression.

“What course of action do we take?” asked the father of my best friend, a renowned patriot who had fought against the borderland customs plaguing Koldra.

“We should perform an exorcism on her,” Father Andrea suggested, his voice firm. “If this entity desires her so intensely, she must possess something it covets.”

I interrupted, my heart racing. “Wait, I don’t think I have what it wants.”

Sean’s mother then emerged from the dark corridor, her eyes filled with accusation. “You do, Aurora,” she spat at me. “And don’t think you can deceive us. Your best friends have revealed your recent strange shenanigans by the tree house.”

I felt a surge of betrayal. “That’s not true!” I protested reaching for the door but Father Andrea was too quick. He shut it firmly, his grip unyielding.

“Whatever you are Aurora, you will be cleansed today,” he declared.

A sudden palm forced the window open from the outside as we beheld Sean’s face, his eyes red-rimmed with longing. “You can’t cleanse her,” he growled.

Father Andrea stood strong, his tone unwavering. “You entity, your days are numbered in Koldra.”

“Numbered?” it repeated. “My parents would beg to differ.”

Mrs. Willow Baker’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears at the completion of his statement but she steeled herself refusing to show weakness. “You are not my son,” she wailed.

The entity’s face then contorted “Mo-ther,” it called.

We stood frozen as extended human-like hands which bore the same marks as Sean reached out.

“It’s me mother, I didn’t die. They told you I did, but I didn’t.”

Father Andrea’s eyes locked onto the creature as he beheld the dark charm that linked them.

Quickly he slammed the window shut, his face appalled. “Stay away,” that order arose with revulsion.

The monster’s laughter echoed through the locked frame, its voice transforming into a woman’s – the call of his dead daughter who unfortunately was one of its victims.

“Hello, Fa…th….er,” she giggled mischievously. “The day won’t be long. You won’t be able to hide behind these doors forever.”

“No I won’t hide” he replied, his eyes fixed on the others.

“What in heaven’s name was that?”, my best friend’s father, Mr Maverick shook vehemently.

He had thought all this while that I was possessed but he finally heard it with his own ears.

Mr. Willow Baker smirked with his demeanor eerily calm.

“That my friend”, he turned to Maverick, “….is no ordinary creature. Before my son was born, we faced a similar shapeshifter, one who made our lives a living hell.”

His wife placed a warning hand on his arm. “Honey, don’t…”

But he poured himself a glass of green tea, crossed his legs and continued. “That thing is a notorious demon called Tyban, a stealer of faces.”

I felt a chill run down my spine as its name struck panic….”What?”

But the most ominous voice in the room came from behind him – Mr Willow’s first son whose face was twisted in a sinister scowl.

“That thing took my baby brother,” he grumbled, his eyes set ablaze with a small knife in hand. “We killed one before Father, surely we can kill another.”